Scott Wykoff's Blog

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Baltimore's Mural Magic

The many murals that blanket the urban landscape of Baltimore are another example of those things that make the city's neighborhoods so unique.

On a day with a glorious blue sky as a backdrop, I checked out some of those murals in Baltimore's Marble Hill neighborhood.

A drive along McCulloh Street and Druid Hill Avenue reveals some of the murals that tell the stories of neighborhoods like it across the city.

Tony Todd, who lives in Druid Hill Heights, talks to me in this video (below) about the importance of murals that are painted on walls in neighborhoods like his.

Here's one of the murals (below) that tells the story of the Pigtown neighborhood in Baltimore.

If you see folks painting walls of buildings in the city, they may be doing it as a part of CityPaint 2010: Baltimore Mural Program. It's an initiative sponsored by Mayor Rawlings-Blake and the Baltimore Office of Promotion & The Arts that has the goal of decorating Baltimore City with numerous murals this year.

It is the latest of many efforts over the years to engage city residents in efforts to create murals in their neighborhoods.

Do you remember the City of Baltimore Wall Painting Project from years gone by?

Mural artists have been busy both creating new murals and touching-up some of those that are already on the sides of neighborhood buildings in Baltimore.

With the input of people who live in the various neighborhoods in Baltimore, mural artists help to reclaim walls in that in recent time are often polluted by graffiti artists and taggers. With that in mind, the city is partnering with neighborhood groups, community organizations, artists and corporations for CityPaint 2010.

Sometimes old school business advertisements (like the one above in Marble Hill) act as murals in some neighborhoods.

It was very interesting to spend the morning learning about both the the history and significance of the murals that I found around this neighborhood in West Baltimore.

One of the most impressive murals I came upon is one that highlights famous African Americans in Baltimore. This photo (above) zooms in on the mural artist's depiction of one of Baltimore's greatest citizens.

Many people say these murals play vital roles in the neighborhoods where they are located.

"In general, I found that the mural brings the community up in so many ways," Angela Chen told the JHU Gazette a few years ago. Chen spent two summers in Baltimore on a Woodrow Wilson fellowship studying the impact of murals on neighborhoods in the city.

"For example, financially, you see people reinvesting in renovation of their homes," Chen told reporter Greg Rienzi with the JHU Gazette. "I also looked into how people felt about the area where they are living, and that would rise after the creation of a mural."

That says a lot about the power of artwork.

If you are interested in volunteering in the creation of murals in neighborhoods in the city CLICK HERE.

And if you see my car double parked along a city street, it's a good bet I'm out taking another photo of one of the many great murals that are a part of the landscape of Baltimore.